Nigeria

Country Profile: Nigeria

Executive Summary

With its democratically elected republican government, this former British colony has ripe potential to join other African states that have secured stable domestic political and economic affairs. Yet, internal struggles between the government and elusive terror groups such as Boko Haram have proven to be a considerable blockade to peace. Other obstacles are present as well, as the government continues to face the daunting task of reforming a petroleum-based economy, whose revenues have been squandered through corruption and mismanagement, and institutionalizing democracy.

Brief History

British influence and control over what would become Nigeria and Africa's most populous country grew through the 19th century. A series of constitutions after World War II granted Nigeria greater autonomy, ultimately leading to the state’s independence in 1960. Following nearly two decades of military rule, a new constitution was adopted in 1999, and a peaceful transition to civilian government was completed. Nigeria is currently experiencing its longest period of civilian rule since independence. The general elections of April 2007 marked the first civilian-to-civilian transfer of power in the country's history.

Political Structure

Political Parties: Accord Party, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Democratic Peoples Party (DPP), Labor Party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

Political System: Modeled similarly to the political system of the United States, Nigeria is a federal republic whose bicameral legislative branch, the National Assembly, comprises of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Members of both bodies are elected by popular vote to four-year terms. The President, also elected by popular vote to a four-year term, acts as both chief of state and head of government.

Political Conflicts: Nigeria continues to experience longstanding ethnic and religious tensions. Although a civilian government was established in 1999, both the 2003 and 2007 presidential elections were marred by significant irregularities and violence.

Economic Structure

Economic System: Nigeria’s economy relies extremely heavily on revenues from the extrication of its plentiful oil reserves. During the 16 year period that Nigeria was under military rule in the 1980s and 90s, there was almost no progress in diversifying the Nigerian economy away from its dependence on petroleum. In fact, 95% of foreign exchange earnings and about 80% of budgetary revenues in the state stem from oil. However, market-oriented reforms encouraged by the IMF to modernize the banking system, remove subsidies, and resolve regional disputes over the distribution of earnings from the oil industry were enacted in 2008. Subsequently, GDP rose strongly in the following years not only because of robust global crude oil prices, but also because of growth in non-oil sectors.

Economic Trends: President Jonathan has established an economic team that includes experienced and reputable members and has announced plans to increase transparency, diversify economic growth, and improve fiscal management. The government is working toward developing stronger public-private partnerships for roads, agriculture, and power.

Economic Resources: The industrial sector produces crude oil, coal, tin, columbite, rubber products, wood, hides and skins, textiles, cement and other construction materials, food products, footwear, chemicals, fertilizer, printing, ceramics, and steel. Petroleum and petroleum products consist of 95% of exports, but also include cocoa and rubber.

Social Structure

Religion:

Christian: 58,663,357 adherents (52.61% of population)
Muslim: 45,717,499 adherents (41.00% of population)
Traditional ethnic: 6,679,215 adherents (5.99% of population)
Non-religious/other: 446,024 adherents (0.40% of population)

Churches:

Catholic (8,500,000 members)
Anglican (3,000,000 members)
Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA) (2,500,000 members)
Christ Apostolic (700,000 members)
Assemblies of God (650,000 members)
Baptist Convention (1,040,000 members)
Methodist (680,000 members)
Church of God Mission Int’l (800,000 members)
Church of Christ in Nigeria (TEKAN) (250,000 members)
Church of the Lord (Aladura) (450,000 members)
Church of Chr/TIV (TEKAN) (210,000 members)
Apostolic (550,000 members)
Cherubim & Seraphim (400,000 members)
Deeper Life Bible (450,000 members)
Lutheran Church of Christ (160,000 members)
Jehovah’s Witnesses (226,353 members)
Evangelical Ref Ch (TEKAN) (171,429 members)
Brethren (150,000 members)
Living Faith Ministries (160,000 members)
Gospel Faith Mission (150,000 members)
Seventh-day Adventist (152,332 members)
Qua Iboe (160,000 members)
Presbyterian (90,000 members)
Christ Reformed (TEKAN) (76,000 members)
Churches of Christ (75,000 members)
Lutheran (42,000 members)
Reformed Church of Christ (40,000 members)
Other denominations (6,942,046 members)

Ethnicity: Nigeria is composed of more than 250 ethnic groups; the following are the most populous and politically influential:

Hausa and Fulani 29%
Yoruba 21%
Igbo (Ibo) 18%
Ijaw 10%
Kanuri 4%
Ibibio 3.5%
Tiv 2.5%

Gender:

Overall male population: 85,420,192
Overall female population: 84,703,548
0-14 years: 43.9% (male 38,232,053/female 36,483,243)
15-24 years: 19.3% (male 16,757,436/female 16,018,589)
25-54 years: 30% (male 25,123,834/female 25,945,571)
55-64 years: 3.8% (male 2,981,187/female 3,520,154)
65 years and over: 3% (male 2,325,682/female 2,735,991) (2012 est.)

Urbanization:

Urban population:
50% of total population (2010)
Rate of urbanization: 3.5% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)
Children under the age of 5 underweight: 26.7% (2008)

Operating Organizations

Political Groups: Academic Staff Union for Universities (ASUU), Campaign for Democracy (CD), Civil Liberties Organization (CLO); Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHR), Constitutional Right Project (CRP), Human Right Africa; National Association of Democratic Lawyers (NADL); National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS); Nigerian Bar Association (NBA); Nigerian Labor Congress (NLC); Nigerian Medical Association (NMA); the press; Universal Defenders of Democracy (UDD)
Terrorist/Criminal: In addition to Boko Haram, a jihadist militant organization, Nigeria also has organized crime syndicates (usually of Igbo or Yoruba) that participate in drug trafficking and racketeering.

Allies and Enemies

Regional Allies: Liberia, Sierra Leone
Regional Enemies: N/A
Global Allies: United States, United Kingdom
Global Enemies: N/A

Country Trajectory

It is crucial to Nigeria’s economic vitality that it expand its sources of state revenue beyond petroleum and petroleum-based products, as they overwhelmingly dominate the economic realm in the state. However, concerted efforts have recently been made by the Nigerian government to reform critical aspects of its economy. These attempts include measures taken by the Central Bank governor to restructure and strengthen the Nigerian financial sector by imposing mandatory higher minimum capital requirements to heal the monetary damage caused by the global financial and economic crises. While recent growth and fiscal stability are also attracting strong foreign investment to Nigeria, political and security risks remain a concern to foreign investors, as an Islamist insurgency in the north, oil theft in the south, violent crime and rife kidnapping show no signs of abating.

Current Events

Mar. 4th, 2013: Nigerian security forces say they have killed 20 members of the Boko Haram armed rebel group in the northeast of the country, after the fighters attacked a military base there with gunfire and explosives.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2013/03/201333175724320641.html

Mar. 6th, 2013: Nigerian stock market bulls say last year's surge in share prices will continue throughout 2013, citing falling bond yields and strong earnings as powerful lures for investors to return to the market. Earnings for the majority of listed firms in the Nigerian index, including full-year results for banks, are due to be released from this month, and most analysts expect them to show significant growth.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/06/nigeria-stocks-idUSL6N0BXH2X20130306

Sources